Carlos Tévez is facing the prospect of another six months as an outcast at Manchester
City after negotiations over a transfer to AC Milan collapsed on Thursday
night.

Tévez, who has been absent from the first-team picture at the Etihad Stadium since being told he was “finished” at the club by manager Roberto Mancini following his actions as a substitute against Bayern Munich in September, has been in dispute with City since returning to his native Argentina without permission last November.

However, talks involving City, Milan and Tévez’s advisers over the past month had appeared to be reaching a positive conclusion for all parties, with an agreement close to being reached over a deal that would have taken the player to the San Siro.

Negotiations in London on Thursday involving Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani, lawyer Lorenzo Cantamessa and City officials Brian Marwood and John MacBeath, plus Tévez’s representatives, had been expected to result in a deal being struck.

But City’s refusal to accept Milan’s attempt to sign Tévez on loan with an agreement to complete a permanent £25 million deal in the summer saw the talks collapse, leaving the former Manchester United forward less than three weeks to find another club.

It is understood that Milan had been prepared to compromise on their stance and move closer to meeting City’s demands. But the eleventh hour breakdown of Pato’s proposed £22 million transfer from Milan to Paris St-Germain on Thursday prompted the Italian club to halt their negotiations with City.

Although Inter Milan have contacted City to register an interest in Tévez, the only serious bidder for the 27-year-old had been their city rivals, Milan. Brazilian club Corinthians, who aborted a move for Tévez last summer, have been unable to finance a new move for the player, while interest from Juventus and Paris St-Germain has been no more than tentative.

Having previously experienced Milan’s brinkmanship in transfer negotiations during their failed attempt to sign Kaka from the San Siro in January 2009, which led to former City chief executive Garry Cook accusing the seven-time European champions of “bottling it”, there remains a sense within the Etihad Stadium that talks could yet resume over Tévez before the Jan 31 deadline.

But senior City figures are understood to be relaxed at the prospect of Tévez continuing to be their player after the closure of the transfer window, despite an acceptance that there is little or no prospect of the former captain returning to first-team contention.

Mancini’s stance on Tévez, and his insistence that he will not play for the club again, has been backed by City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan and chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak and the club’s Abu Dhabi hierarchy are determined to ensure that the player will only leave on their terms. As such, City’s position remains that they will only countenance Tévez’s permanent sale.

Tévez was fined two weeks’ wages, totalling £396,000, last October after being found guilty of five breaches of contract while a substitute during the Champions League defeat in Munich on Sept 27.

His decision to fly back to Argentina last November further damaged his relationship with the club and led to PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor claiming that Tévez was in a “self-destruct pattern”. Despite the situation between player and club, however, City have made it clear that they will not part company with Tévez until a deal emerges that suits their requirements.

Meanwhile, City winger David Silva is facing a race to be fit for the Premier League top-of-the-table clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Jan 21 after returning to his native Gran Canaria for treatment on an ankle injury.

Silva flew to Las Palmas prior to City’s Carling Cup semi-final first-leg defeat against Liverpool on Wednesday to visit a local specialist, Dr Gerardo Garces, for an MRI scan on the injury sustained during Sunday’s FA Cup defeat against Manchester United.

Although results of the scan suggest that the Spain international has not suffered serious damage to his ankle, the player is expected to remain in Gran Canaria until this weekend, raising doubts over his ability to return for Monday’s league game against Wigan at the DW Stadium.

Mario Balotelli is understood to be fit for the Wigan game after limping out of the Liverpool defeat with an ankle injury. He was involved in another bizarre incident on Thursday when he parked his white Bentley outside Xaverian College in Manchester and then walked in to ask if he could use the toilet. He stayed at the school for 20 minutes speaking to staff and pupils.

The Football Association has confirmed that it has written to City to seek their observations over an incident which resulted in a laser pen being shone in the face of Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard during the Carling Cup tie.